What is it with people and Prius hate?

Paul,

I'm trying to figure out this insanity, but maybe trying to figure a rationale for the insane is an invitation to also go insane.

Seriously, only the Hummer has had this strong a reaction but it's going to History's junkyard, so I submit the Prius as the most reacted to vehicle in history.

First, people way overread socio-political statements into the car - lazy people believing the rubbish everybody driving MUST be a socialist, politically green....polls on this site have decisively disproven that, although left-leaning drivers may be 50-60%.

Aggressive drivers are less patient with the Prius - can't prove it but it's kind of like that sense people of color sense they are not getting the same break as white people.

There may be various guzzlers expressing guilt or anger.

Suspect some feel threatened that this is how all cars may be and they hate that. That and they may think Prius are deputized pacers.....90% of everybody speeds....what if most people drove like the early adopters and actually observed the speed limit?....then the men in blue would have an easier time nailing them.

While I drive a 2000 Insight, it's treated like a Prius.

Granted, some of this behavior would happen "in just another car", but again some of it is a reaction to the Prius.

 

If you're worried about other people giving you a hard time on the road, maybe you should have considered a Civic/Camry/Altima/Fusion/Escape/Highlander Hybrid or a Lexus RXh/GSh/HSh instead.

The Prius and Insight are targeted because well, they look like hybrids. It's just like cyclists on road bikes get targeted for heckling on the road - just because they're on that tall skinny bike in full spandex and with clown shoes.

 

Not a concern, but an observation with disgust.

Besides, who needs the therapy - the Prius drivers or the haters?



Just as there are varied reasons to get a Prius, there are numerous reasons it's hated.

 

Around here there is definately Prius hate, probably because they think it is slow. I get up behind someone on the interstate, go left to pass, and then they speed up.

Making turns when you are slowing down in the turning lane before the red light, people like to speed up on the left then cut infront only to stop right ahead of you.

This happen a lot in the Prius. Less in the civic. Never/Rarely in the Lexus RX. Same people, same drive, different cars.

 

The other solution is to go faster than most people (and accepting that your gas milage won't be crazy high). Not saying you should, just stating an option.

 

Courtesy on the highways has been going away a long time before the Prius. That it is common below the Mason Dixon Line simply means that like the flu, it is catching. I notice your profile says "Atlanta" and the traffic there is as bad as any large urban area.

My approach is found in 'route planning' that exploits the unique characteristics of the Prius versus ordinary cars. We can take direct, short-cuts, often at lower speeds, than ordinary cars that have to be at near highway speeds for fuel economy. So the vast majority is forced into increasingly crowed, 'high speed' lanes only to induce congestion and slow-down which frustrates their fuel efficiency goal as well as expected time.

So the techniques I use are:

• road less traveled - take the access road instead of the main, divided road. Take the short-cut with lights instead of the longer route without lights. Cut through a neighborhood at the speed limit instead of the congested highway that becomes a rolling parking lot.
• shelter of trucks - commercial trucks are notorious for relatively slow and steady speeds so use them as a pace vehicle. Following traffic will 'see the truck' and pass it without ever noticing your car. Heck, they may think 'no problem with the Prius, it is stuck behind the truck.' Little do they realize it is by design. <GRINS>
• drive by rear view mirror too - I can not explain it but some people just drive fast in the right hand lane and will not pass. So when I see one and traffic allows it, I move to the left lane, they pass, and I move back. It is my courtesy to them and lets me drive without a tailgater.

Prius driving can teach us how to get where we are going, perhaps not as frantic fast as in the past, but with a more relaxed and sedate pace. It can also teach us how to be tactically 'invisible' and achieve mileage like my signature shows.

Bob Wilson

 

I do almost 100% city driving. I experienced "Prius hate" and even a very minor rear-ending (just a pea-sized scratch on the bumper) in the beginning of my Prius ownership and hybrid apprenticeship. Now I drive exclusively in PWR mode faster than most people and no experience of hate for a long time. I agree my gas milage is not "crazy" high, but it's not crazy low either. 55-59 mpg in the summer, 52 - 55 in the fall, and with the help of engine block heater pre-heating, backp up to 55 mpg. Not to shabby?

I still get "decent" mileage because I use cc/glide/coast a lot after zooming up to higher than normal speed. Once you're ahead of the green light race, slowing down by coasting and eventually caught up by others does not trigger hate. I call this the "Ultimate Pulse and Glide".

Yes I think this Prius hate is really mostly "whimpy" hate. I experimented by driving just 5% above speed limit on the freeway (norm is 20+% above) to Niagara Falls yesterday. The expected being cut-off just to slow down in front of me because of traffic jam, speed-up to prevent me from changing lanes occurred multiple times, especially from big "nice person-you-vees".

Next time on the freeway (not too far in the future since my wife is already contemplating to return what was bought yesteeday at a factory outlet mall in Niagara Falls) I'm gonna experiment 20+% above speed limit and see what happens.

 

Hi Paul,

The solution is to hypermile. That way, there is plenty of room for the doofus drivers of the world to cut in front of you.

I have had people doing 80 mph in a 40 mph suburban main street just to show me how powerful their Cadallac is, after they could not shake me to 40 mph. This is/was insane.

Its best to just let people think what they want to believe, and drive different thant he rest.....

 

Something like this perhaps (clearly Photoshopped):



On the other hand, this does exist:



Finally, this has a certain devil-take-the-hindmost attitude:

 

I have sat in traffic, and I have watched SUVs being cut off by other SUVs...

I've seen large pickups dog the brakes and swerve to miss idiots.

I think the perception of it is different in a Prius.

When I drove the Malibu, I swore I was completely invisible -- I was run off the road by a semi, I was nearly sidewiped by a pickup "merging" onto the highway (he was on his phone), I had to continually watch for people cutting me off... and that was in a Chevy Malibu.

I've actually had better luck in the Prius. People seem to see it better. Though, I do occasionally have people follow me way too closely for my comfort.

 

I agree that aggressive drivers do target the Pruis. I also use the neighborhood streets whenever possible, but seem to get more tailgaters using these routes. I still use my left turn signal whenever people get too close and it is effective in getting people to back off. Only occasionally do I find it necessary to wave at them with just one finger.

 

http://jalopnik.com/5653894/how-to-get-an-american-autobahn

Bob Wilson

 

5W-30?? I'd blow my engine at the racetrack.

 

I'd use 5W-40 or 5W-50 instead.

 

I've had my prius for a little over a month now, currently live in Atlanta, and have lived in Boston (which even NYers nickname Boston drivers as Massholes). Of my experiences, I say Atlanta isn't as bad. You still have to be defensive, but at least most drivers here use turn signals (even if cutting in front of you), don't drive on sidewalks, and do at least come to a rolling stop at stop lights.

The one thing I've noticed since getting the prius is the number of cars that go into the other lane as soon as they see me. Most don't wind up passing me, and since I do a lot of gliding, I'm finding I'm actually using the brakes less then my previous car. There are some aggressive drivers on the highway here, but I've noticed the main difference in manners comes with 4 way stops in local neighborhoods. In the NE, it's assumed you have the right of way (whether you're not the first or are not the right hand is inmaterial). What drives me crazy about the South is that people are more genial. At least once a day, I run into a driver that refuses to turn when they have the right of way. They're trying to be super nice and say "No, you go"....finally when I give up and begin to go, they finally go. So apart from the crazies on the highway, I think these kinds of miscommunication are causing a large percentage of accidents here. In Boston, you can assume the accident happened because someone didn't slam on their brakes when they had the right of way. The only thing I miss about the North is that the roads actually get plowed and sanded whenever it snows. That's probably when I'm going to have to use the brakes more....to slow down for the crazies that act like there is nothing different with snow and ice present.

Oh, and another observation....of the "twin-turbo, caged, slammed, and built to the hilt Corvette"....the ones around me tend to be the slowest cars on the road. Go figure.